Soul Crafter

Chapter Fourteen: Fiery Passion

Michelle found herself in some kind of small house, or cabin type of place. All the lighting seemed to have a reddish hue. With great difficulty, she stood up. Her body felt tight, like her muscles were turning to stone. With all of her might, she put one foot forward, and headed for the door. She fell over before she took another step. Melek walked up to her, her cheek on the dirty floor. She looked up and saw Melek, tall, menacing – nothing but evil and hatred in his eyes. With the quickness of a viper, he kicked her in the abdomen, hard, and knocked the wind out of her.

      She barely had time to register just how much pain she was in when Melek picked her up by her hair, and began dragging her across the room. She yelled and protested, and then he violently spun her around and sat her down at the corner.

    “If you don’t shut up and stop moving, I’m going to start cutting your fingers off,” he threatened, crouching down in front of her and pulling out a large pocket knife, covered in dried blood. He tapped her hand with it as a warning, and then Michelle went quiet.

   She glared into his loveless, hateful eyes. Victor’s eyes, compared to his looked to have more compassion, more love, more soul. Whereas with Melek, she felt she was staring into the eyes of an arachnid.

     Melek walked across the room and picked up a pile of rope, then brought it over to her and began to tie her hands with it.

     “Why bother tying me up? I’m not going anywhere,” Michelle said, trembling.

Emotionlessly, as if fighting off the desire to scream insults at her, he responded.

     “They’re not just for you, they’re for Victor as well,” he forced a smile. On him, it looked evil devoid of genuine joy. He looked like someone who’d never had the innocence of a child.

     “You know, I wasn’t always like this,” Melek began, as if sensing what she had just thought about him. Michelle wondered just how many abilities he shared with Victor.

     “I find that hard to believe,” Michelle quietly said, not wanting to agitate him. She felt the ache in or stomach from where he’d struck her. She wasn’t interested in repeating such an assault.

     “Oh, come now, what has Victor told you about me? I hope he told the truth – that he was vicious, and I came to stop him, stop his reign of terror,” Melek explained.

     “Who’s going to stop yours,” she asked sardonically.

    Melek shook his head, disappointed.

    “You know, sometimes we have to become like our enemies, if we want to stop them,”

    Michelle remained quiet, and he finished tying her up. He leaned back and sat in front of her, looking straight at her, almost unblinkingly. She wished he’d go away, or look anywhere but at her. He felt evil. He had the chill of death reeking from him, and his energy felt like that of a remorseless, hungry insect.

    “How did you get to be this,” Michelle wanted to say ‘thing’, but thought better of it. Instead, she opted for something she thought he’d find a bit less offensive.

“How did you become what you are now? With these powers?”

    Melek looked up, as if considering if he should answer her. He seemed like he was going to ignore her when he stood up and turned around to look out of the window, but then he answered her.

    “I used to have a wife – and children,” Melek began, his tone unreadable. Michelle tried to imagine him as a husband, and as a father and couldn’t imagine him as being someone loving enough for those roles.

     “They were killed – brutalized by a demon, half eaten,” Melek turned around to stare into Michelle’s fearful eyes.

      “Do you know what it’s like to come home and find only a couple of pieces of the woman you love? To see blood the blood of your child splattered on the walls?” Melek asked. Michelle saw nothing in his eyes but darkness, and felt nothing from him but darkness.

     “I’d angered the very creatures I sought to rid the earth of,” Melek whispered to himself, just loud enough for her to hear - his gaze seeming far away now, even though he was looking in her direction.

     “So, basically, being an exorcist got your family killed,” Michelle finally spoke.

     “Hm, yes, so it would seem,” Melek said, indifferent.

     “I remember that it killed part of me, but it also awoke a fire within me,” Melek began, a new, manic look in his eyes. “I went after those pieces of trash, those disgusting demons, with more verve than I’d ever had before,” Michelle searched his eyes, looking for anything other than the pure, inhuman predator before her.

     “It’s funny though,” he said mirthlessly. “I fought them so much, so hard, they began to eat me,” Melek reached his hand forward and caressed Michelle’s cheek. She winced. His hands felt gritty, almost like there were tiny spikes lodged into his fingers, softly scraping against her skin.

     “You’re still pure – you’ve no idea what it feels like, to have something eat your soul, little by little, each day. My old soul is gone,”

Melek backed up and put his hands together and gestured an explosion.

     “So, you’re not Melek, not really,” Michelle whispered.

     “I am Melek, in every way.”

     “How?”

     “Who he is, is who I am now, that’s it – but who he was is no more,” Melek explained.

     “I don’t understand – you’re not him, his soul is gone. You’re someone else,”

     “He was someone else,” Melek corrected, stillness in his eyes.

     “He was me,” He said, this time more intensely. “This is my house now,” He said, getting up again and walking around.

     “I care not for my old family, not anymore. I remember caring for them, though. I just don’t feel like that for anyone – but I remember what his pain felt like. I remember he begged me to save him,” Melek said, gazing out of the window. Melek turned back around and stood before Michelle, looked down at her, his eyes unreadable again.

     “And save him I did,” he said, slowly looking up and down Michelle’s body.

     “Now you’re going to save me – and you’re going to help me save the world,” he said, a wicked, mad smile stretching his lips upward in an almost unnatural manner.

****

     Bianca jumped, and took several steps back on the cold, dark wet alley ground. She had no shoes on, and was only wearing the simple, yet bloodied, hospital gown that was tied behind her back. Peculiarly, she didn’t find the cold that bothersome.

“What the hell? How did we get here?” Bianca said, amazed, looking around her with wide eyes, realizing it was night, but she could see clearly.

“This is the last place I sensed Melek,” Victor explained.

Victor materialized a brown coat in his hand. It was the very one he’d found earlier.

“Here, I found this in there.” Victor gestured to the dumpster next to them. “It’s covered in his scent.”

     He handed it over to her. She looked at it, then brought it up to her nose and inhaled. Sure enough, it smelled just like him— only it also smelled different than she remembered.  She found she could smell everyone who had ever touched it. And some of the smells came with images— faces, names, their age. She was picking up other subtle notes; she found she could also smell something else that she had never smelled before.

     “What is that?” Bianca asked, looking up at him, curious.

     “Magic,” Victor responded knowingly. “Your sense of smell is now beyond mere physicality.”

     Bianca slowly walked over to the dumpster and put her hand on the edge where she sensed Melek’s had been. She then caught a scent on the wind.

     “I think I’ve found him,” Bianca said, her eyes turning pure black. She remembered how he’d hurt her, how he nearly ended her life, and so casually, too. She felt rage awaken within the pit of her belly like never before. She let her instinct take over and could now smell every location Melek had been— as if every scent had a string attached to it, and all Bianca had to do was follow the string and find him.

      “Let’s go,” Bianca growled.

     And she was off.

     With Victor following close behind, Bianca ran as fast as she could. She found that she could run a lot faster than she used to. It wasn’t scary, or even difficult. She felt no fatigue as she ran what she thought was over seventy miles per hour. Bianca pushed herself even more until was easily running over one hundred miles per hour. She was astonished as she realized she could easily keep up with a car if she wanted to.

     They ran through the trees; Bianca noted that even though she was now running on the snow, it had almost no effect on her.

    She stopped running when she came upon a small opening with an old, beaten down house in the middle. There was a faint light coming from the broken and boarded up windows.

     “Here he is,” Bianca said hatefully. She found herself fantasizing about biting down on his flesh, ripping him to shreds with her teeth, and drinking every last drop of his blood. Her facial expression contorted to one of pure, seething hatred.

     “And so is Michelle,” she added, when she finally got a whiff of her sweeter, more human smelling scent. She seemed to have something else about her, too. She smelled different than Victor or Chris. It was hard for her to describe.

     “Control yourself. He’s dangerous,” Victor warned, feeling Bianca’s rising hostility.

     Bianca nodded, but made little effort to calm her fantasies. She felt the sudden need for violence overwhelm her.

     Victor extended his senses throughout the whole area, breathing in the freezing night air. He couldn’t tell if Melek or Michelle were there. He smelled neither. Victor was amazed by the effectiveness of Melek’s magic.

     “He doesn’t know about you, so you’re going to be my secret weapon,” Victor said.

     “What do you have in mind?” Bianca said, holding back her seething hatred.

     “I’m going in first; I’ll distract him. Then, you sneak in, find Michelle and get her out of there. Take her home— I’ve created extra protection barriers over her house,” Victor said.

     Bianca didn’t like the sound of that. She wanted in on his destruction.

     “Okay,” Bianca agreed.

     Together, they quietly approached the house, the fresh snow crunching below their feet. Victor beckoned her to hide near the front, while Victor took the back. He stealthily approached the back window and peaked inside. There, he saw that a circle had been painted in the center of the main room; there was a huge fire with a very large, boiling cauldron on top that was emitting red smoke.

     He looked everywhere that he could through the window, until he spotted the tip of a very feminine looking foot. He figured it must be Michelle’s. He put his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He stepped inside. As soon as his foot landed on the wooden floor, there was a loud creeaaak! He froze where he stood.

     “Hover it is,” Victor thought.

     He elevated himself from the ground ever so slightly and looked around the small room. It looked like he was in an old kitchen that was terribly dirty and nearly unrecognizable. There was a small, yellow sink to the left with a hole on top where a faucet might have once been. Directly in front of him was a full view of the main room, which had the boiling cauldron—the only source of light. Victor hovered closer and closer, until he was partially in the room. He looked around and saw Michelle on the floor, laying down in her black dress. She was unconscious, bound, and gagged.

     He wanted nothing more than to immediately grab her and carry her away, but he knew it couldn’t be that easy. He didn’t see any sign of Melek, but there didn’t appear to be any stairs. He surveyed the room, his eyes narrowed. There was only one closed door beside where Michelle lay unconscious.

     He approached the old, scratched up door and grabbed the handle. It was loose, wobbly—the metal, tarnished and rusted. With anticipation, he slowly opened the door.

     There was nothing inside but an old toilet. The porcelain bowl had been completely broken in half. Victor closed the door gently. He would have been more reassured had there been something inside waiting for him. Victor then smelled the faint scent of blood; he approached his nose to the wall ever so slightly.

     “So, that’s how he did it,” Victor barely whispered.

     Knowing it couldn’t be that easy, he decided to bend down to where Michelle was, and as expected, something happened. He put his hand on her arm, but as soon as he did, he felt like his whole body was being electrocuted by millions of volts. Suddenly, his clothes caught fire from the intensity of the current running through him, and he began to scream. He acted quickly and tore off his burning shirt.

     “Here, let me help you,” a deep, triumphant voice said from behind him as he flailed around, letting out blood chilling screams. Victor turned around to see Melek hovering his hands over the cauldron, its red contents flowing up into the air. Melek aimed his hands at Victor; the red contents from the cauldron landed on his body, drenching him and putting out the fire. Now soaked, with patches of peeling, burned skin which were already slowly starting to heal, Victor made a pass at Melek, but was stopped by something.

     He felt something grab him around his waist. He looked down and saw a very long, pale arm wrapped around him. Its clawed, humanoid hand rested on his belly. He quickly looked behind him to find the owner of such an impossibly long arm only to find that the arm continued up into a shadowy portal that was on the ceiling above him.

     Victor began to s***h at the arm around him, attempting to free himself. He growled and roared, and even tried to run. It was no use. Other long, pale arms descended— fluid and rubbery in their flexibility— and wrapped themselves around Victors arms, legs, and chest. He felt himself getting weaker. Right before one could wrap itself around his neck, he screamed as loud as he could.

     “BITE HIM! DRINK HIS BLOOD! HURRY!!” he shouted. Then the arm coiled itself around his neck so tightly that he could no longer speak. Once all of the arms had a firm grasp on him, they began to glow dark red. Victor became weaker and weaker, his eyes becoming drowsy. He fell to his knees, fighting with all of his might to keep his eyes on Melek, who was grinning in the shadows before him.

     “Do you know what these are?” Melek asked, stepping forward and caressing one of the arms. Victor’s lips quivered; all he could make was a faint gasping sound.

     “Let’s pretend you asked,” he smiled, then winced and took his hand off of the arm.

     “These are parts of beings that exist between realms. They take the offering of energy in order for people like you and me to move between worlds. You see, every time you move to another realm, every time you teleport, you unknowingly pass through these things,” Melek finished, putting one finger under Victor chin to keep his head up. He could barely keep his eyes open now.

     “What I’ve done is, I’ve coated you in something that makes you a target for them. You’re the thing they’re sucking the life out of, so that they can open a portal, you see. They won’t stop until every single bit of your measly existence is gone.”

     Just then, Melek heard a cracking sound. The door swung open. He turned around but saw no one there.

     “Oh, did you bring someone? I didn’t know you had any friends,” Melek said to a barely alive Victor as he walked toward the open front door. He stepped outside onto the porch with confidence and looked all around the snowy, dark terrain.

     “ARRRRGH!” screamed a feminine voice.

     Before he had time to react, Bianca jumped onto Melek’s back, sunk her teeth into his neck, and took her first taste of blood. Her whites changed to black and her irises shifted to glowing, bright yellow. She felt new power rush through her system and understanding of how to use it as the blood flowed down her throat. Each of her cells lit up with delight, encouraging her to take in more and more.

     Melek attempted to utter a spell.

     “Voca me— ” before he could even finish, Bianca extended her claws and ripped out his throat with one quick s***h.

     He made a gurgling sound as he stammered back into the house with her tightly perched on his back. As he began choking on his own blood, he attempted to get her off of his back by repeatedly throwing himself against the wall.

     It was pointless, however, as she would not relent. The taste of his blood was so enticing for her that she bit down more deeply, and began to chew away at his neck. Melek fell to his knees and then fell face down with a groan.

     Bianca stopped feeding for a moment and lowered her completely blood drenched lips to Melek’s ear.

     “This is what you get for what you did to me,” Bianca whispered, and then lunged back into his neck. He continued to make gurgling sounds as he attempted to breath. Bianca continued to chew until she reached bone, which she easily broke through. 

     Finally, with a broken neck, Melek went completely still and silent.

     Bianca heard a loud thud behind her, and quickly looked up. Her hair was a mess, her eyes glowed, and her face, neck, and the whole front of her hospital gown were unrecognizable with thick blood stains. She saw that it was Victor. He’d been dropped by the arms, which retreated into the black portal, and vanished from sight. He weakly looked up at her; she knew what he needed. She stood up, blood getting all over her feet as she walked over to him. She picked him up and dragged him to Melek’s mangled neck, and he bit down, sucking up what remained of his blood.

     Bianca stood there, watching him— licking the blood off of her lips, and licking the drops of slowly coagulating blood that were dripping down her arm, as if she was a preening cat.

When Victor was done, he had a bit more life in his eyes.

     “You’re voracious,” Victor said, feeling some of his energy return.

     “I’m not even full,” Bianca smiled bloodily, looking over at Melek’s spent dead body. She sighed.

     Victor stood and went to Michelle. He bent over her and cut through her ropes with his fingernails as easily as you would cut through butter. He picked her up and carried her in his arms.

     “I’m taking her home. Would you do the honors of disposing of this place?”

     “Gladly, it’s more than this piece of s**t deserves,” Bianca said, eyeing Melek. Victor made his way outside with Michelle in his arms. “Um, how do you want me to get rid of this place?” Bianca asked, catching up with him as he walked.

     “You’re a vampire made by my blood. If you want to set the whole place on fire, you can,” Victor explained blandly, barely turning around to look at her as he continued to march away from the house.

     Bianca looked from him and then to the house, perplexed.

     “How do I set it on fire?” She had a feeling he wasn’t telling her to use a lighter.

     Victor let out a big sigh, which created a bit of mist in the cold air around him.

     “Will it,” Victor said, turning around to watch.

     Bianca stared, fixated on the cabin. Internally, she asked her body what to do, and then, subtle understanding dawned on her. She thought about fire, about the heat of flames, their warmth and brightness. She thought about how she felt fire erupt inside of her whenever she thought about Melek. She imagined the cabin burning down, alongside his wretched, drained dead body. She imagined him turning to ash. She thought and imagined with all of her might until her eyes turned black and yellow and began to glow. She let out a low, rumbling growl from the depth of her chest. Then, all of a sudden, the cabin exploded.

     Victor saw small pieces of Melek’s body fly out into the sky and land near them in the snow. The whole cabin began to steadily burn. The fire got bigger, and bigger— hotter and hotter. Bianca could feel what she needed to do. Every thought she had, the fire obeyed.

     She wanted it hotter, it became hotter. She could feel the intensity of the heat on her skin from where she stood. She wanted it brighter, it became brighter and illuminated the whole area around them, as if a small sun were in the center of the snowy clearing. What if she wanted it to change color? To turn bright orange?

     She willed it, and the fire turned orange right before their eyes. She then wondered if the fire could turn purple. She willed it so, and it did. Once the fire turned purple, however, it burned hotter than before— causing the whole cabin to collapse in on itself.

     Once the cabin collapsed, Victor was able to smell its contents. Before, he couldn’t even smell Melek, even thought he was right in front of him. Now that the house was collapsed, he could smell his blood, his nearly completely disintegrated flesh, his bubbling spinal fluid.

     “I hate that man,” Bianca said darkly. He had done things to her she wished he hadn’t and put things inside of her she dared not utter out loud. She was sure it was not something anyone could relate to— and if she were to speak of it, she felt she would be considered mad. Her mind and body had been violated, her innocence abused. Remembering it all— including how easily he was willing to dispose of her— sickened her. She wished she could do more to hurt him; she wished he would come back to life so that she could rip him to pieces and kill him all over again.

     She was a bit surprised by herself, by how easily she thought of killing him, and how she was now relishing in the present moment, knowing he was burning up. She wanted every trace of him to wiped from existence for all time.

     “Put your hand on my shoulder; let’s go,” Victor said, once certain that the threat was gone. Bianca did so, and Victor closed his eyes. Bianca gasped as everything around her went dark, and all of her senses went blank, except for the feel of Victor’s shoulder under her hand. She felt like she was spinning, though she was sure she was standing still. Gradually, her hearing returned. She could hear the sound of crickets, and then she could smell and feel the air around her. It was warmer than where she’d been. Her sight returned, and she was standing beside Victor in front of Michelle’s house in Highcroft Village.

     She let go of his shoulder and stepped back.

     “I’ll tend to Michelle,” Victor said, looking over at Bianca, and then eyeing her bloodied up hospital gown. “Go wait at your house until I come get you. We’ll need to reassure your family.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “You were taken from an operating table in the middle of a procedure,” Victor explained.

     “Oh, yeah, I guess that’ll need some explaining.”

     Bianca eyed her clothing, and then looked at her hands, covered in dried blood.

     “I guess I should clean up,” she said mainly to herself. “One more thing,” Bianca began. Victor eyed her tiredly. “Melek did a lot of things to me and made me do a lot of things against my will. Something I remember him making me do is putting something in Michelle’s drinks.”

     “I recall he mentioned that, yes,” Victor said.

     “No, not just then— not just at the party— but also when we went to that alternate universe. I was slipping some transparent substance into her drink. He told me it was to help her.”

     Victor pursed his lips and frowned at her. 

     “Hey, I was under his control. You can’t blame me,” Bianca said defensively.

     “Return home,” Victor said, willing the door before him to open. “I’ll be there shortly.”

     Bianca, grateful, walked away, and quickly headed for her hopefully empty house so that she could clean up. As Victor carried Michelle’s unconscious body into her house, he felt her stir in his arms. He looked down and saw she was opening her eyes.

     “Victor?” Michelle weakly said, then her eyes widened in horror.